Velton Jones is ready
for the next step

By Joe Mason
For the Times

Before last September, Velton Jones didn’t know a lot about North Catholic High School.
During his freshman and sophomore years, Jones had been a successful basketball player at Simon Gratz. But before the start of the 2006-07 school year, he decided to transfer to North.
"I knew a little bit because it’s not too far from my house," Jones said. "But I didn’t know much at all. I knew a lot of guys from the team, but it was a lot different than I expected. It was different, but it was good . . . I’m glad I transferred."
Now Jones is preparing to step into the unknown once again. Although he has yet to officially visit the campus, the North Catholic senior recently committed to attent Robert Morris University on a basketball scholarship. The school is situated a few miles outside Pittsburgh.
"They recruited me and I really liked the coaching staff, they were really good to me, really nice," said Jones, a third-team All-Catholic selection during his year at North. "The program seemed like a perfect fit for me. The school, I haven’t seen it, but I hear it’s nice. I’m looking forward to checking it out."
Jones figures he has time to learn more about the Pittsburgh area and the atmosphere of playing Division 1 college basketball. Right now he’s focused on his remaining year at North Catholic.
In fact, shortly after the Falcons were ousted from the Catholic League playoffs last season following a 73-45 loss to Saints Neumann-Goretti, Jones got back on the court.
He worked on his shooting.
He worked on his conditioning.
And, yes, he worked on his dribbling.
Last year, Jones brought a flashy style to the deliberate style of basketball at North. The razzle-dazzle made him quite a fan favorite at North’s home, "The Pit", but it also made him quite unpopular at other gyms in the Catholic League Northern Division.
He hopes it’s more of the same this year.
"I love the up-and-down style," Jones said. "I’ll be running that at Robert Morris, and we’ll be doing that again this year at North. It makes it exciting. I love to run, and we have a team that likes to run.
"It was fun, playing at home last year," he added. "The people at North, the fans, they like that style. We can play the old way, but we love to play the new way, the way I like to play. We kind of go up and down as fast as we can. As long as we take good shots, coach (Mike McCarron) doesn’t mind. It helps us win."
The faster style must have propelled North. Last year was the first time since 1994 that the school advanced past the first round of the PCL playoffs. And as much as a return trip to the Catholic League semifinals would be nice, that’s not exactly what Jones is shooting for.
The Falcons did graduate Andrew Pomager and Chris Edwards, the two leading scorers on last year’s squad, and Jason Mendez, a reserve at power forward and center. But the rest of the team will be back this season.
As the starting point guard, Jones knows it’s his job to lead the team, but he’s also confident in his supporting cast.
"We’ll miss the guys who graduated, but we really think we can go to the championship and win the championship," Jones said. "That’s the only thing we want. Last year was fun and all because it was the first time we won a playoff game, but this year we want a (championship).
"We have a really good team coming back and we have the best coaching staff in the league," Jones added. "We have everything we need, so I see no reason why we won’t win the championship."
And after the season, maybe he can make that long-awaited visit to his next school.
Then again, maybe he’ll just wait until classes start.
"I know it’s cold there, that will be nice," Jones said. "All summer I’ve been running in the heat, but I’d rather it be too cold than too hot. I think I’ll like it there just for that." ••
Joe Mason can be reached at joemason70@hotmail.com